We All Salute Dick Gregory!

Dick Gregory, a pioneering force of comedy in the 1960s who parlayed his career as a stand-up comic into a life of social and political activism, died Saturday of heart failure. He was 84.

We All Salute Dick Gregory!

Gregory was the first black comedian to perform at white clubs in the 1960s, and he also took to the front lines of civil rights protests (on one occasion, jailed for five days) and later with hunger strikes (against the Vietnam War, apartheid, and police brutality, to name a few causes). He is cited across the board as an inspiration for comedians like Trevor Noah, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Paul Mooney, Chris Rock, and innumerable others.

Gregory was also a health and spiritual advocate and a motivational speaker. He wrote several books, including “Murder in Memphis,” which analyzed the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

He taught us so much… how to laugh, how to fight, how to live, even how to eat!